Exclusive: Bumblebee Voice Actor Revealed

The producer explains why it was necessary to finally give the Transformer his own voice.

After years of being unable to talk, Bumblebee will finally speak in his upcoming spinoff -- and IGN can exclusively reveal that Dylan O'Brien (Maze Runner, Teen Wolf) is the actor giving voice to the titular Autobot in the Transformers prequel!

IGN chatted with Transformers franchise producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura last week about casting O'Brien as Bumblebee and why it was necessary for the film to finally give the Transformer his own voice.

"Since we were approaching this as an origin story, we felt that it was appropriate that you got to hear his voice," di Bonaventura said of the character who thus far has only been able to communicate using existing media. "That’s the simple logic that we employed. The longer term implication of that is different. But the short-term implication of that is, since we really are resetting the mythology, essentially, of who Bumblebee is. And so, that seemed to us to be the appropriate, to get the chance to hear what he sounds like."

Dylan O'Brien as seen in Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials.

The '80s-set film, which sees Travis Knight take over the directorial reins from Michael Bay, follows Bumblebee as a young soldier in the Autobots' war against the Decepticons on Cybertron who goes on an all-important mission to Earth.

While on Earth, Bumblebee befriends a teenage girl named Charlie (played by Hailee Steinfeld) who unwittingly buys him as her first car. Together, they face off against the sinister Decepticons Shatter (voiced by Angela Bassett) and Dropkick (voiced by Justin Theroux) in an adventure that will shape both of their young lives. This movie will be the first time Bumblebee's voice is depicted in the live action films.

"Dylan has that great quality in his voice of youthful exuberance, and also sort of trustworthiness," the producer explained. "I think those are the two qualities that we wanted Bumblebee to have."

Di Bonaventura added that so far the responses he's received about O'Brien's voice casting has been positive. "Thankfully, we’ve showed it to a few audiences, and people seem to think that it’d be right and an appropriate voice," he said. "You never know, obviously that can be a sensitive thing for people. But it turns out, they imagine his voice that way."

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Look for more from IGN's interview with Lorenzo di Bonaventura closer to the December 21st domestic release of Bumblebee.